Packaging substrate having pattern-matched metal layers

ABSTRACT

A pattern matched pair of a front metal interconnect layer and a back metal interconnect layer having matched thermal expansion coefficients are provided for a reduced warp packaging substrate. Metal interconnect layers containing a high density of wiring and complex patterns are first developed so that interconnect structures for signal transmission are optimized for electrical performance. Metal interconnect layers containing a low density wiring and relatively simple patterns are then modified to match the pattern of a mirror image metal interconnect layer located on the opposite side of the core and the same number of metal interconnect layer away from the core. During this pattern-matching process, the contiguity of electrical connection in the metal layers with a low density wiring may become disrupted. The disruption is healed by an additional design step in which the contiguity of the electrical connection in the low density is reestablished.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/935,834, filed Nov. 6, 2007 the entire content and disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to semiconductor structures, andparticularly to packaging substrates having pattern-matched metallayers, methods of manufacturing the same, and methods of generatingmatched patterns for metal layers for the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Once formation of semiconductor devices and interconnects on asemiconductor wafer (substrate) is completed, the semiconductor wafer isdiced into semiconductor chips, or “dies.” Functional semiconductorchips are then packaged to facilitate mounting on a circuit board. Apackage is a supporting element for the semiconductor chip that providesmechanical protection and electrical connection to an upper levelassembly system such as the circuit board. Two types of packagingtechnologies are commonly available. The first type is wire bonding thatemploys bonding pads and solder bumps on the semiconductor chip and on awirebond package. Bonding wires connect pairs of bonding pads across thesemiconductor chip and the wirebond package to provide electricalconnection between them. The second type is Controlled Collapse ChipConnection (C4) packaging, which employs C4 balls each of which contactsa C4 pads on the semiconductor chip and another C4 pad on a packagingsubstrate. Both types of packaging technologies provide a packagedsemiconductor chip which may be assembled on the circuit board.

Typically, a semiconductor chip having a large number of input/output(I/O) pins employ C4 packaging since C4 packaging can handle higherdensity of pins than wire bonding packages. FIG. 1 shows a prior artpackaging substrate comprising a core 50 at the center, multiplevertically stacked front metal interconnect layers 20′ located above thecore 50, multiple front insulator layers 30 interspersed between thefront metal interconnect layers 20′ and above the core 50, multiplevertically stacked back metal interconnect layers 80′, and multiple backinsulator layers 70 interspersed between the back metal interconnectlayers 80′. Each of the front insulator layers 30 provides electricalisolation between a pair of neighboring front metal interconnect layers20′. Likewise, each of the back insulator layers 70 provides electricalisolation between a pair of neighboring back metal interconnect layers80′. Typically, the number of front metal interconnect layers 20′matches the number of the back metal interconnect layers 80′.

The packaging substrate facilitates formation of electrical link betweenthe semiconductor chip and a system board of a computer. A semiconductorchip is mounted on a die foot print area 12 located on a top surface ofthe packaging substrate. The die foot print area 12 contains C4 pads onwhich a semiconductor chip (not shown) may be attached by C4 bonding.The area of the top surface of the packaging substrate outside of thedie foot print area 12 is referred to as a packaging substrate topsurface 10.

A typical semiconductor chip employing a packaging substrate maycomprise about 5,000 input/output nodes. Each of these nodes areelectrically connected to a C4 pad on a top surface of the semiconductorchip in a two dimensional array. Typical two dimensional arrayconfigurations for the C4 pads include 4 on 8 configuration, whichemploys C4 solder balls having a diameter of 4 mils (˜100 microns) and apitch of 8 mils (˜200 microns) in a rectangular array, and 3 on 6configuration, which employs C4 solder balls having a diameter of 3 mils(˜75 microns) and a pitch of 6 mils (˜150 microns) in a rectangulararray. Thus, more than 5,000 C4 solder balls may be formed on thesemiconductor chip, which may be typically about 2 cm×2 cm in size.

The front metal interconnect layers 20′ and the back metal interconnectlayers 80′ provide electrical connections from the C4 pads on the diefoot print area 12 to the bottom of the packaging substrate whichcontains ball grid array (BGA) pads having a larger dimension than theC4 pads. Typically, BGA pads are in a rectangular array having a pitchon the order of about 1 mm. BGA solder balls having a diameter of about400 microns are used to attach the packaging substrate to the systemboard. Typically, Sn—Ag—Cu alloys, which are free of lead, is employedto meet emerging standards for reducing hazardous materials. Analternative method to BGA connection is to employ land grid array (LGA)in which a thin pad containing metal points in a grid are placed betweenthe system board and the substrate. Use LGA facilitates easy removal ofa substrate containing expensive electronics for repair purposes.

The packaging substrate also protects the semiconductor chip that ismounted on the die foot print area 12 and modularizes the productdevelopment of the semiconductor chip, while simplifying the subsequentintegration steps involved in the manufacturing of a larger computer ora consumer electronic product. Ceramic materials or organic materialsmay be employed for building up a substrate. Ceramic substrates arebuilt layer by layer without the need of a core where as an organicsubstrates requires a core on which the front and back layers can bebuilt. While ceramic materials offer excellent mechanical strength and alow level of warp relative to organic materials, there is an inherentlimitation in wiring density posed by ceramic substrate. It necessarilyrequires larger number of buildup layers (by a factor of 5 to 10) thanthat required by a an organic substrate. In contrast, an organicsubstrate facilitates high density wiring in the front metalinterconnect layers 20′ and the back metal interconnect layers 80′,i.e., a packaging substrate employing an organic material for the core50, the top insulator layers 30, and the bottom insulator layers 80.Typically, approximately 16 levels of the front metal interconnectlayers 20′ and the back metal interconnect layers 80′ may accommodatethe contents of the electrical wiring in 100 levels in a ceramicpackage.

The present trend in substrate technology is to transition from ceramicpackaging substrates to organic packaging substrates. An organicpackaging substrate, i.e., an organic polymer based electronic packagingsubstrate is a cost effective means to fan out the input/output pads andpower supply pads from a semiconductor chip having a large number ofpads or pads arranged in a high density. Presence of core 50 in anorganic package degrades the electrical parameters of the interconnectsas signals have to travel through larger inductive and resistive linkscalled plated through holes. In order to enhance the electricalperformance the industry has interest in reducing the core thickness tonear 100 um thick if not completely becoming a coreless substrate.Furthermore to reduce the thermal expansion sensitivity, materials forthe core 50 having a lower coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) arebeing pursued by the packaging industry. Even though the quest forlow-CTE materials revolves around organic resins with filled particles,use of silicon or ceramic as the core material can not be overlooked.

The core 50 of an organic packaging substrate is made of fiberreinforced organic or resin material having a thickness from about 400microns to about 800 microns. The lateral dimensions of the core 50depends on the number of C4 pads on the semiconductor chip that isattached to the die foot print area 12, and may be from about 3 cm toabout 7.5 cm. The front metal interconnect layers 20′ and the back metalinterconnect layers 80′ are progressively built layer by layer on thetop and the bottom of the core 50, respectively, by a series ofprocessing steps. Each of the front metal interconnect layers 20′ andthe back metal interconnect layers 80′ may be employed for circuitinterconnection of input/output nodes, distribution of a power supplynetwork, or distribution of a ground network. The processing stepstypically involve electroless-plating, electroplating, etching,polishing, placement of dielectric resin, high temperature pressing ofresin, etc. Typical temperature of the high temperature pressing ofresin is about 200° C. Each of the front metal interconnect layers 20′and the back metal interconnect layers 80′ is separated by a sheet ofphotosensitive resin. Laser drilling of the resin and electroplatingprocess are used to fabricate vias that provide electrical connectionbetween neighboring pairs of various metal interconnect layers (20′,80′). Multi-stack vias are used to link the various metal interconnectlayers (20′, 80′) that are further apart.

The front metal interconnect layers 20′ and the top insulator layers 30are collectively called front circuit build-up layers. The back metalinterconnect layers 80′ and the bottom insulator layers 70 arecollectively called bottom circuit build-up layers. Since each of thevarious metal interconnect layers (20′, 80′) is designed to optimizeelectrical performance, the mechanical characteristics of each of thevarious metal interconnect layers (20′, 80′) are not preciselycontrolled.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show exemplary patterns of a pair of a top metalinterconnect layer 20′ and a bottom metal interconnect layer 80′.Specifically, FIG. 2A shows an exemplary pattern of a top metalinterconnect layer 20′ in which areas of the metal are represented byblack areas and areas of a dielectric material, which is an organic orresin material, are represented by white areas. FIG. 2B shows anexemplary pattern of a bottom metal interconnect layer 80′ in whichareas of the metal are represented by black areas and areas of thedielectric material are represented by white areas. On one hand, the topmetal interconnect layers 20′ generally include dense interconnectstructures made of metal lines, typically etched from a layer of metaldeposited by means of a plating process. The metal may comprise Cu, Ag,Au, or Ni, and typically comprises Cu. The dense interconnect structuresrequire a relatively high percentage of area used for electricalinsulation between adjacent metal lines. Thus, the percentage of areasof the metal is relatively low, and may typically be from about 10% toabout 60%. On the other hand, the bottom metal interconnect layers 80′tend to have a continuous sheet of metal with distributed holes for viasto pass through so that the vias may be connected to BGA pads on thebottom surface of the packaging substrate. The continuous sheet of metalmay comprise Cu, Ag, Au, or Ni, and typically comprises Cu. Thecontinuous sheet of metal uses a relatively high percentage of area formetal areas. Thus, percentage of areas of the metal is relatively high,and may typically be from about 40% to about 99%. Such a configurationinevitably leads to a substrate with asymmetric thermomechanicalproperties when viewed with respect to the plane of symmetry at thecenter of the core 50.

In general, a packaging substrate design with asymmetricthermomechanical parameters produces a warp when it is constructed at ahigh temperature and cooled down to the room temperature. Electronicmanufacturing and assembly operations incorporating a packagingsubstrate require a warp less than a maximum acceptable level. Forexample, for a packaging substrate having a 55 mm×55 mm squarecross-sectional area, a warp up less than 100 μm is consideredacceptable. While the maximum acceptable level for the warp of apackaging substrate may vary depending on the number of front circuitbuild-up layers and back circuit build-up layers as well as the lateraldimensions of the packaging substrate, size of the semiconductor chip,and the thickness of the core 50, less warp is preferred since a highlevel of warp makes alignment and reflow of BGA solder balls difficultas well as applying a mechanical stress to C4 solder balls andcompromise integrity of C4 bonding. Thus, the yield of packagingsubstrates may be reduced if excessive warp is introduced into thepackaging substrate.

FIG. 3 shows the measured warp (corrected for initial warp at hightemperature) of 12 samples of an organic packaging substrate having a 55mm×55 mm size. A 1 warp curve 150 shows the mean of the warp as afunction of distance from a corner of each sample toward a diagonalcorner of the sample. The direction of the measurement of the warp isshown in FIG. 1 by an arrow labeled “d.” An average warp range of about50 μm is observed in the data from the samples. In addition, the rangeof the warp is not constant throughout the samples. There is astatistical distribution in the warp as a function of the distance alongthe diagonal of the packaging substrate. A +3 sigma warp curve 153,which is obtained by adding three times the standard variation of the 12measured values for each distance along the diameter to the mean warpcurve 150, and a −3 sigma warp curve 147, which is obtained bysubtracting three times the standard variation of the 12 measured valuesfor each distance along the diameter to the mean warp curve 150, arealso shown. Statistically, 99.73% of the organic packaging substratesmanufactured with the same method are expected to have less warp thanthe +3 sigma warp curve 153 assuming the warp is distributed accordingto a Gaussian probability function. In other words, 0.27% of the organicpackaging substrates manufactured with the same method are expected tohave more warp than the +3 sigma warp curve 153. In reality the warpdistribution is more skewed towards higher warp, and the 3-sigma factormay need to be modified accordingly to cover 99.73% target. Clearly,organic packaging substrates that have unacceptable level of warp areexpected to be produced in a mass production environment. The range ofwarp within the die foot print area 12 is marked with a dashed rectangle112, which shows that a warp range exceeding 20 μm may be expectedwithin the die foot print area 12.

FIG. 4 shows the result of a simulation for warp of the packagingsubstrate using a systematic modeling method in which thermomechanicalparameters were computed from the variable metal loading, i.e., thepercentage of area occupied by metal, in each of the various metalinterconnect layers (20′, 80′) of the packaging substrate.

The warp may be attributed to thermomechanical parameters are asymmetricabout the plane of symmetry 51 at the center of the core 50. FIG. 5demonstrates the warp generating mechanism in which front circuitbuild-up layers 40′, which comprise front metal interconnect layers 20′(See FIG. 1) and front insulator layers 30 (See FIG. 1), has a largercoefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) than back circuit build-up layers60′, which comprise back metal interconnect layers 80′ (See FIG. 1) andback insulator layers 70 (See FIG. 1). The front circuit build-up layers40′ contracts more relative to the back circuit build-up layers 60′ whenthe temperature is reduced from the processing temperature for theformation of the various circuit build-up layers (40′, 60′) to the roomtemperature.

In view of the above, there exists a need for a packaging substratehaving reduced warp than the packaging substrates known in the art.

Particularly, there exists a need for a packaging substrate of which thewarp is more immune to temperature changes than the packaging substratesknown in the art.

Further, there exists a need for a systematic method for manufacturing apackaging substrate having reduced warp than the packaging substratesknown in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses the needs described above by providing apackaging substrate having matched pattern and/or percentage of metalareas in top metal interconnect layers and bottom metal interconnectlayers. The present invention also provides a design method forpatterning the front and back metal interconnect layers having symmetricthermomechanical properties, while providing maximum flexibility to thedesign process.

In the present invention, a pattern matched pair of a front metalinterconnect layer and a back metal interconnect layer having matchedthermal expansion coefficients are provided for a reduced warp packagingsubstrate. Metal interconnect layers containing a high density of wiringand complex patterns are first developed so that interconnect structuresfor signal transmission are optimized for electrical performance. Metalinterconnect layers containing a low density wiring and relativelysimple patterns are then modified to match the pattern of a mirror imagemetal interconnect layer located on the opposite side of the core andthe same number of metal interconnect layer away from the core. Forexample, metal interconnect layers containing ground planes and powerplanes that are typically solid sheets of metal with through via holestherein may be pattern-matched with a corresponding mirror image layeron the other side of the core. During this pattern-matching process, thecontiguity of electrical connection in the metal layers with a lowdensity wiring may become disrupted. The disruption is healed by anadditional design step in which the contiguity of the electricalconnection in the low density wiring is reestablished. A solid plate maybe transformed into a fine-pitched structure matching a mirror imagelayer, or may further be transformed into equivalent structures having amatched percentage of metal area to the mirror image layer.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a package substrate formounting a semiconductor chip is provided. The packaging substratecomprises:

a core comprising an organic material or lower-CTE material such assilicon or ceramic;

a front metal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces of metaland an insulator material and located on and above a top surface of thecore; and

a back metal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces of the metaland the insulator material and located on and below a bottom surface ofthe core, wherein a conformal one-to-one mapping exists between thefront metal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layer,wherein a positive correlation exists between a pattern of the backmetal interconnect layer and a pattern of the front metal interconnectlayer, and wherein a probability to detect presence of metal at acorresponding point location in the front metal interconnect layer,obtained by the conformal one-to-one mapping of a randomly selectedpoint location in the back metal interconnect layer at which metal ispresent, is greater than a ratio of a total area of metal within thefront metal interconnect layer to a total area of the front metalinterconnect layer.

In one embodiment, a probability to detect absence of metal at acorresponding point location in the front metal interconnect layerobtained by the conformal one-to-one mapping of another randomlyselected point location in the back metal interconnect layer at whichmetal is not present is greater than a ratio of a total area in whichmetal is not present within the front metal interconnect layer to thetotal area of the front metal interconnect layer.

In another embodiment, the randomly selected point location within thefront metal interconnect layer and the point location in the back metalinterconnect layer are coincidental in a superposition of a design ofthe front metal interconnect layer with a design of the back metalinterconnect layer, and wherein the probability is less than 1.

In even another embodiment, the pattern of the back metal interconnectlayer contains at least one geometric feature, and the pattern of thefront metal interconnect layer contains at least another geometricfeature, wherein the at least one geometric feature and the at leastanother geometric feature are different.

In yet another embodiment, the front metal interconnect layer and theback metal interconnect layer have identical sizes.

In still another embodiment, the front metal interconnect layer and theback metal interconnect layer comprise a metal that is one of copper,gold, silver, and nickel.

In a further embodiment, the ratio of the total area of the metal withinthe front metal interconnect layer to the total area of the front metalinterconnect layer and another ratio of a total area of metal within theback metal interconnect layer to a total area of the back metalinterconnect layer are within 30% of each other, and preferably within15% of each other, and most preferably within 10% of each other.

In another further embodiment, for a randomly selected patterncontaining a contiguous piece of the metal located in a region in theback metal interconnect layer, a probability that a first ratio exceedsa second ratio is greater than 50%, wherein the first ratio is a ratioof a total area of the metal within a corresponding region of the topmetal interconnect layer to a total area of the corresponding region,and wherein the second ratio is the ratio of the total area of the metalwithin the front metal interconnect layer to the total area of the frontmetal interconnect layer.

In an even another embodiment, an entirety of boundaries of thecorresponding region and an entirety of boundaries of the region arecoincidental in a superposition of a design of the front metalinterconnect layer with a design of the back metal interconnect layer.

In a yet another embodiment, for a randomly selected pattern containinga contiguous region in which the metal is absent in the back metalinterconnect layer, a probability that a first ratio exceeds a secondratio is greater than 50%, wherein the first ratio is a ratio of a totalarea in which the metal is absent within a corresponding region of thetop metal interconnect layer to a total area of the correspondingregion, and wherein the second ratio is a ratio of a total area in whichthe metal is absent within the front metal interconnect layer to thetotal area of the front metal interconnect layer.

In a still another embodiment, an entirety of boundaries of thecorresponding region and an entirety of boundaries of the region arecoincidental in a superposition of a design of the front metalinterconnect layer with a design of the back metal interconnect layer.

In a still yet another embodiment, the pattern of the back metalinterconnect layer encompasses an entirety of the back metalinterconnect layer and the pattern of the front metal interconnect layerencompasses an entirety of the front metal interconnect layer.

According to another aspect of the present invention, another packagingsubstrate for mounting a semiconductor chip is provided. The packagingsubstrate comprises:

a core comprising a ceramic material or an organic material;

a front metal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces of metaland an insulator material and located on and above a top surface of thecore; and

a back metal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces of the metaland the insulator material and located on and below a bottom surface ofthe core, wherein a conformal one-to-one mapping exists between thefront metal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layer,wherein for a geometrical shape that may be isotropically andarbitrarily scaled in size by varying a dimension, at least one valueexists for the dimension at which fractional metal areas of a pair ofrandomly selected regions positively correlate to each other, whereinthe pair of randomly selected regions comprises a first region locatedin the front metal interconnect layer and a second region located in theback metal interconnect layer, wherein the first region and the secondregion are projected into each other by the conformal one-to-onemapping, and wherein the first region and the second region have thegeometrical shape and the value for the dimension.

In one embodiment, a correlation coefficient for the positivecorrelation is less than 1.

In another embodiment, the pattern of the back metal interconnect layercontains at least one geometric feature, and the pattern of the frontmetal interconnect layer contains at least another geometric feature,wherein the at least one geometric feature and the at least anothergeometric feature are different.

In even another embodiment, the front metal interconnect layer and theback metal interconnect layer have identical sizes.

In yet another embodiment, an entirety of boundaries of the first regionand an entirety of boundaries of the second region are coincidental in asuperposition of a design of the front metal interconnect layer with adesign of the back metal interconnect layer.

According to even another aspect of the present invention, even anotherpackaging substrate for mounting a semiconductor chip is provided. Thepackaging substrate comprises:

a set of front circuit build-up layers located in an upper portion ofthe packaging substrate, wherein each of the front circuit build-uplayers comprise a front metal interconnect layer and a front insulatorlayer; and

a set of back circuit build-up layers located in a lower portion of thepackaging substrate, wherein each of the back circuit build-up layerscomprise a back metal interconnect layer and a back insulator layer, andwherein the set of front build-up layers and the set of back build-uplayers have a symmetric three-dimensional distribution of coefficient ofthermal expansion.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method ofgenerating a matched pair of a first pattern for a front metalinterconnect layer and a second pattern for a back metal interconnectlayer for a packaging substrate is provided. The method comprises:

providing a first prototype pattern for the front metal interconnectlayer and a second prototype pattern for the back metal interconnectlayer;

establishing a conformal one-to-one mapping between the first prototypepattern and the second prototype pattern;

comparing the first prototype pattern and the second prototype patternfor complexity between regions correlated by the conformal one-to-onemapping; and

identifying a pattern of higher complexity in one of the regions andsuperposing the pattern of the higher complexity to the other of theregions to generate a modified pattern.

In one embodiment, the identifying of the pattern of the highercomplexity employs comparison of total lengths of boundaries betweenmetal regions and insulator regions within each of the regionscorrelated by the conformal one-to-one mapping.

In another embodiment, the identifying of the pattern of the highercomplexity employs comparison of an average size of shapes of metalpieces, an average size of shapes of insulator regions, a total numberof metal pieces, or a total number of insulator regions within each ofthe regions correlated by the conformal one-to-one mapping.

In even another embodiment, the conformal one-to-one mapping is asuperposition of the first prototype pattern with the second prototypepattern.

In yet another embodiment, the method further comprises:

subdividing the first prototype pattern into first regions and thesecond prototype pattern into second regions, wherein each of the firstregions is correlated to one of the second regions by the conformalone-to-one mapping; and

comparing a correlated pair of one of the first regions and one of thesecond regions for the complexity.

In still another embodiment, the method further comprises:

comparing patterns of electrical connections between pairs of locationsat which vias for inter-level connection are present in each of themodified pattern and one of the first and prototype patterns out ofwhich the modified pattern is generated; and

matching the patterns of electrical connections by introducingadditional metal areas to the modified pattern.

In a further embodiment, a solid block of metal or a solid block ofinsulator within the other of the regions becomes a patterned areahaving the same pattern as the one of the regions.

In an even further embodiment, a solid block of metal or a solid blockof insulator within the other of the regions becomes a patterned areahaving a scaled pattern of the pattern of the higher complexity, whereinthe scaled pattern has substantially the same metal area to insulatorarea ratio as the pattern of the higher complexity.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, a method ofmanufacturing a packaging substrate is provided. The method comprises:

forming a core comprising a ceramic material or an organic material;

forming a front metal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces ofmetal and an insulator material and located on and above a top surfaceof the core; and

forming a back metal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces ofthe metal and the insulator material and located on and below a bottomsurface of the core, wherein a conformal one-to-one mapping existsbetween an entire surface of the front metal interconnect layer and anentire surface of the back metal interconnect layer, and wherein apositive correlation exists between a pattern of the back metalinterconnect layer and a pattern of the front metal interconnect layerso that a probability to detect presence of metal at a randomly selectedpoint location within the front metal interconnect layer thatcorresponds to a point location in the back metal interconnect layer atwhich metal is present is greater than a ratio of a total area of metalwithin the front metal interconnect layer to a total area of the frontmetal interconnect layer.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

forming at least one intervening front metal interconnect layer betweenthe core and the front metal interconnect layer; and

forming at least one intervening back metal interconnect layer betweenthe core and the back metal interconnect layer, wherein the number ofthe intervening front metal interconnect layers and the number of theintervening back metal interconnect layers are the same.

In another embodiment, the at least one intervening front metalinterconnect layer, the front metal interconnect layer, the at least oneintervening back metal interconnect layer, and the back metalinterconnect layer are formed layer by layer.

In even anther embodiment, the core comprises an organic material andthe insulator material comprises organic or resin material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a prior art packaging substrate having a die foot printarea 12 for attaching a semiconductor chip.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show exemplary patterns of a pair of a top metalinterconnect layer 20′ and a bottom metal interconnect layer 80′ for theprior art packaging substrate of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows the measured warp of 12 samples of an organic packagingsubstrate having a 55 mm×55 mm size

FIG. 4 shows the result of a simulation for warp of the packagingsubstrate using a systematic modeling method.

FIG. 5 demonstrates the warp generating mechanism in the prior artpackaging substrate having mismatched coefficients of thermal expansion(CTEs) between front circuit build-up layers and back circuit build-uplayers.

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an exemplary packagingsubstrate according to the present invention.

FIGS. 7( a)-7(d) show a first set of exemplary images of front and backmetal interconnect layers according to the present invention.

FIGS. 8( a)-8(e) show a second set of exemplary images of front and backmetal interconnect layers according to the present invention.

FIGS. 9( a)-9(d) show a third set of exemplary images of front and backmetal interconnect layers according to the present invention.

FIG. 10( a) and FIG. 10( b) show a fourth set of exemplary images ofback metal interconnect layers.

FIGS. 11( a)-11(d) show a fifth set of exemplary images of front andback metal interconnect layers.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart for a method of generating a matched pair of afirst pattern for a front metal interconnect layer and a second patternfor a back metal interconnect layer for a packaging substrate accordingto the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As stated above, the present invention relates to packaging substrateshaving pattern-matched metal layers, methods of manufacturing the same,and methods of generating matched patterns for metal layers for thesame, which are now described in detail with accompanying figures.

Referring to FIG. 6, an exemplary packaging substrate according to thepresent invention comprises a core 50 comprising an insulator materialsuch as a ceramic material or an organic material. The organic materialmay be reinforced with fiberglass. Also, the organic material maycomprise a resin material. In case the insulator material of the core 50comprises a ceramic material, the exemplary packaging substrate is aceramic packaging substrate. In case the insulator material of the core50 comprises an organic material, the exemplary packaging substrate isan organic packaging substrate. While the degree of beneficial effectsof the present invention may be greater on an organic packagingsubstrate than on a ceramic substrate since warp of a packagingsubstrate is typically greater in an organic packaging substratecompared to a ceramic substrate, the inventive elements of the presentinvention may be applied to both types of packaging substrates.

A horizontal plane of symmetry 51 is located the middle of the core 50,which corresponds to the physical middle plane between the top surfaceof the core 50 and the bottom surface of the core 50. Front metalinterconnect layers 20 are located above the core 50 and back metalinterconnect layers 80 are located below the core 50. Each of the frontmetal interconnect layers 20 and each of the back metal interconnectlayers 80 contains patterned pieces of metal and an insulator material.The patterned pieces of metal may comprise copper, gold, silver, nickel,or any other high conductivity material. The set of all patterned piecesof metal within the same level constitutes a front metal interconnectlayer 20 or a back metal interconnect layer 70. The thickness of each ofthe metal interconnect layers 20 and the back metal interconnect layers70 may be from about 20 μm to about 80 μm, and preferably from about 35μm to about 65 μm, although lesser and greater thicknesses areexplicitly contemplated herein.

Multiple levels of front metal interconnect layers 20 and multiplelevels of back metal interconnect layers 70 may be formed. Preferably,the total number of the front metal interconnect layers 20 and the totalnumber of back metal interconnect layers are the same, and may be fromabout 5 to about 30, respectively, in the case of an organic packagingsubstrate, and may be from about 20 to about 100, respectively, in thecase of a ceramic packaging substrate, although lesser and greaternumbers are explicitly contemplated herein.

Four of front metal interconnect layers 20 and four of back metalinterconnect layers 70 are shown in the exemplary packaging substrate.The four front metal interconnect layers 20 comprise a first front metalinterconnect layer 21, which is closest to the core 50 among the fourfront metal interconnect layers 20, and a second through fourth frontmetal interconnect layers (22, 23, 24) which decrease sequentially inproximity from the core 50. Likewise, four back metal interconnectlayers 80 comprise a first back metal interconnect layer 81, which isclosest to the core 50 among the four back metal interconnect layers 80,and a second through fourth back metal interconnect layers (82, 83, 84)which decrease sequentially in proximity from the core 50. Selection of4 as the number of front metal interconnect layers 20 and the number ofback metal interconnect layers 80 is for the purposes of illustratingthe present invention. The number of the front metal interconnect layers20 and the number of the back metal interconnect layers 80 may bechanged arbitrarily in the practice of the present invention.

Each of the front metal interconnect layers 20 is interspersed, i.e.,separated amongst one another, by multiple front insulator layers 30comprising an insulating material and each having a thickness from about20 nm to about 40 nm. The insulating material may be a ceramic materialin the case of a ceramic packaging substrate, or may be an organicmaterial such as a resin material. Each of the back metal interconnectlayers 80 is interspersed by multiple back insulator layers 70comprising the insulating material and each having a thickness fromabout 20 nm to about 40 nm. Lesser and greater thicknesses for each ofthe multiple front insulator layers 30 and each of the multiple backinsulator layers 70 are explicitly contemplated herein.

The front metal interconnect layers 20 and the front insulator layers 30collectively constitute front circuit build-up layers 40, and the backmetal interconnect layers 80 and the back insulator layers 70collectively constitute back circuit build-up layers 40. The frontcircuit build-up layers 40 and the back circuit build-up layers 60 maybe formed layer by layer by methods well-known in the art such aspressing at an elevated temperature.

Preferably, each of the front metal interconnect layers 20 may be pairedwith one of the back metal interconnect layers 80 having the same numberof intervening metal interconnect layers. Specifically, the first frontmetal interconnect layer 21 is paired with the first back metalinterconnect layer 81, the second front metal interconnect layer 22 ispaired with the second back metal interconnect layer 82, the third frontmetal interconnect layer 23 is paired with the third back metalinterconnect layer 83, and the fourth front metal interconnect layer 24is paired with the fourth back metal interconnect layer 84. Within eachpair of a front metal interconnect layer (21, 22, 23, or 24) and a backmetal interconnect layer (81, 82, 83, or 84, respectively), the numberof intervening metal interconnect layers are the same.

The pattern of the metal regions and insulator regions within each ofthe front metal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layerwithin the pair are substantially matched, and as a consequence, thefront metal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layerhave a substantially matched fractional metal area, i.e., the ratio ofthe total area of metal within the front metal interconnect layer to thetotal area of the front metal interconnect layer is substantiallymatched to the ratio of the total area of metal within the back metalinterconnect layer to the total area of the back metal interconnectlayer. The two ratios may be matched within 30%, and preferably within15%, and most preferably within 10%.

The substantial matching of the pattern of metal regions and insulatorregions within each pair of the front metal interconnect layer and theback metal interconnect layer having the same number of interveninglayers is schematically represented by the similarity of cross-sectionalareas of the top and bottom metal interconnect layers within each pairin FIG. 6.

While it is preferable to match the number of front metal interconnectlayers 20 and the number of the back metal interconnect layers 80, thepresent invention may be practiced with unequal numbers of front metalinterconnect layers 20 and the number of the back metal interconnectlayers 80, in which some metal interconnect layers are not paired.

The pattern in each of the top metal interconnect layers 20 and thebottom metal interconnect layers 8 may be substantially a mirror imageof a corresponding opposite layer, which is the other metal interconnectlayer within each pair of the front metal interconnect layer and theback metal interconnect layer having the same number of interveningmetal interconnect layers. As a result of a substantial mirror symmetryin the patterns of the top and bottom metal interconnect layers (20,80), thermomechanical parameters including coefficient of thermalexpansion have a symmetric distribution about the plane of symmetry 51located at the centre of the core 50. The symmetry in thethermomechanical parameters minimizes warp of the packaging substrateduring thermal cycling of the inventive packaging substrate.

Further, process variations that symmetrically affect the front circuitbuild-up layers 40 and back circuit build-up layers, such as thicknessesof metal plating for each pair of a front metal interconnect layer and aback metal interconnect layer having the same number of interveninglayers and formed by the same plating process, induce symmetricparameter variations from a nominal value. Thus the inventive packagingsubstrate containing pattern-matched pairs of metal interconnect layersacross the front circuit build-up layers 40 and the back circuitbuild-up layers 60 minimizes warp since effects of process variationsare counterbalanced for process variation that occur symmetricallybetween the pattern matched pairs of metal interconnect layers.

Preferably, the patterns between the front metal interconnect layer andthe back interconnect layer with each pair are matched by a simplesuperposition of the two patterns when viewed from the same direction,i.e., from above the packaging substrate. In case the pattern of thefront metal interconnect layer is viewed from above and the pattern ofthe back metal interconnect layer is view from below, the two patternsmay be considered mirror images of each other. It is recognized,however, that the matching of the two patterns in the above manner isnot necessary to practice the present invention. Since the fractionalmetal areas are matched across the front metal interconnect layer andthe back metal interconnect layer, a rotation of one of the matchedpatterns, flipping or a mirror image generation of one of the matchedpatterns, or even shuffling and rearranging one of the matched patternsstill preserves the fraction of the metal area relative to the totalarea of the pattern, and thus benefits from a globally matchedcoefficients of thermal expansion between the front metal interconnectlayer and the back metal interconnect layer. These manipulations arearea-preserving mappings of an image into another image. Some of thesemanipulations are conformal mapping in which all angles betweenintersecting curves remain unchanged and at any point, the scale remainsthe same. Mathematically, the determinant of the Jacobian matrix of alinear transformation has a magnitude of 1 at any point of the mappedarea. Such variations are explicitly contemplated herein.

FIG. 7( a)-7(d) show a first set of exemplary images of front and backmetal interconnect layers according to the present invention. Blackareas represent areas in which metal is present in the design, and whiteareas represent areas in which an insulator material is present in thedesign, i.e., the metal is not present. A pair of a front metalinterconnect layer and a back metal interconnect layer separated fromthe core 50 (See FIG. 6) by the same number of intervening metalinterconnect layers are provided. One of the two metal interconnectlayers may contain a high density of wiring and complex patterns, whilethe other may contain a low density wiring and relatively simplepatterns. For example, the front metal interconnect layer may containthe complex patterns, and the back metal interconnect layer may containthe simple patterns. The patterns in the pair of metal interconnectlayers are provided as known in the art, and herein referred to asprototype patterns to be distinguished from modified patterns generatedaccording to the present invention. The prototype patterns are generatedso that interconnect structures for signal transmission are optimizedfor electrical performance and suitable power grid network and groundnetwork are provided.

FIG. 7( a) is a first prototype pattern for a front metal interconnectlayer containing a relatively complex pattern of interconnect wiring,and FIG. 7( b) is a first prototype pattern for a back metalinterconnect layer containing a solid sheet of metal with holes thereinthat may be employed for a power grid network or a ground network. Theholes in the back metal interconnect layer of FIG. 7( b) may be employedto pass through vias that connect to another metal interconnect layerlocated at another level. The pattern of the bottom metal interconnectlayer in FIG. 7( b) may be considered a simpler pattern than the patternof the front metal interconnect layer in FIG. 7( a) in terms of thetotal length of boundary between metal pieces (marked by black areas)and a dielectric material (marked by white areas).

Referring to FIGS. 7( c) and 7(d), the prototype patterns are modifiedby superposing elements of a more complex pattern in one of the twometal interconnect layers, which is the front metal interconnect layershown in FIG. 7( a), into the simpler pattern of the other of the twometal interconnect layers, which is the back metal interconnect layershown in FIG. 7( b). The superposition of the element of the pattern inFIG. 7( a) onto the pattern in FIG. 7( b) results in FIG. 7( d), whichis a modified pattern for the bottom metal interconnect layer accordingto the present invention. In this case, no modification is performed onthe pattern of the front metal interconnect layer shown in FIG. 7( a).Consequently, FIG. 7( c), which is the pattern for the front metalinterconnect layer after the pattern modification process, is the sameas the pattern in FIG. 7( a), i.e., the pattern for the top metalinterconnect layer is not changed.

The pair of the pattern for the top metal interconnect layer in FIG. 7(c) and the pattern for the bottom metal interconnect layer in FIG. 7( d)are nearly symmetric. The remaining asymmetry between the pattern forthe top metal interconnect layer and the pattern for the bottom metalinterconnect layer after the pattern modifications reflects functionalasymmetry between the top metal interconnect layer and the bottominterconnect layer.

Modifications to the original prototype pattern of the bottom metalinterconnect layer during the process of pattern superposition andgeneration of the modified pattern are apparent in FIG. 7( d). Since thefront metal interconnect layer has many independent conductive metallines where the back metal interconnect layer has a contiguous planewith holes, the modification of the pattern for the back metalinterconnect layer needs to provide equivalent electrical functionalityof the prototypical pattern of the back metal interconnect layer withoutdrastically deviating the newly superposed prototype pattern of thefront metal interconnect layer. Thus, the holes are preserved in themodified pattern for the back metal interconnect layer in FIG. 7( d).

Replicated image metal regions 91 that are formed in the modifiedpattern by replicating the prototype pattern of the top metalinterconnect layer in FIG. 7( a) may be linked by crosslink metalregions 92 that cross the disconnected metal regions 91. Depending onthe current load on the combined set of the replicated image metalregions 91 and the crosslink metal regions 92, the electrical linking ofthe replicated image metal regions 91 by the crosslink metal regions 92may be performed in a distributed manner using several cross-linkingconnectors without stiffening the new pattern, i.e., without causingexcessive deviation from the prototype pattern of the top metalinterconnect layer of FIG. 7( a). A solid block of metal in the backmetal interconnect layer may thus become a patterned area having thesame pattern as the front metal interconnect layer.

As the contiguous metal area of the prototype pattern in the bottommetal interconnect layer is replaced with the set of the replicatedimage metal regions 91 and the crosslink metal regions 92, the presenceof the holes for through vias disrupts the continuity of the patterns ofthe replicated image metal regions 91 and the crosslink metal regions92, i.e., the presence of the holes supersedes the presence of any otherpattern in the modified pattern. Under such condition, the rim of theholes may be made into a circular ring of metal to provide electricalintegrity of the modified pattern so that the modified pattern providesequivalent electrical connections to vias for inter-level connection.The electrical equivalence of the modified pattern to the prototypicalpattern before modification may be checked by comparing patterns ofelectrical connections between pairs of locations at which vias forinter-level connection are present across the modified pattern and theprototypical pattern, i.e., the pattern in FIG. 7( b) and the pattern inFIG. 7( d). Additional modifications may be added to the modifiedpattern in FIG. 7( d) as needed to establish electrical equivalency forall vias for inter-level connection across the pattern in FIG. 7( b) andthe pattern in FIG. 7( d).

In general, a conformal one-to-one mapping exists between the frontmetal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layer that arepattern matched employing then methods of the present invention. In aconformal mapping, angles and area are the same between twocorresponding regions, which are the entire surface of the front metalinterconnect layer and the entire surface of the back metal interconnectlayer. Exemplary conformal mappings include, but are not limited to,superposition of one image onto another and combination of superpositionand rotation or mirror image generation, i.e., “flipping.” The conformalone-to-one mapping may exist between the entirety of the front metalinterconnect layer and the entirely of the back metal interconnectlayer. Alternately, multiple conformal one-to-one mappings may beprovided after subdividing the front metal interconnect layer and theback metal interconnect layer. For example, each of the metalinterconnect layers may be subdivided into a left half and a right half.The same type of conformal mappings, or different types of conformalmappings, may be employed. For example, the left halves may beconformally mapped by superposition and the right halves may be mappedby a mirror image generation. Preferably, the entirety of the frontmetal interconnect layer is mapped onto the entirety of the back metalinterconnect layer by the conformal one-to-one mapping. More preferably,the conformal mapping is a superposition of the front metal interconnectlayer onto the back metal interconnect layer. In other words, regions ofthe front metal interconnect layer are matched to regions of the backmetal interconnect layer as if one would pick up the front metalinterconnect layer and place it on top of the back metal interconnectlayer to generate physically coinciding regions, which are thecorresponding regions of the conformal one-to-one mapping.

Further, a positive correlation exists between a pattern of the backmetal interconnect layer, such as the modified pattern in FIG. 7( d),and a pattern of the front metal interconnect layer, such as the patternin FIG. 7( c). Due to the positive correlation between the two patterns,the probability to detect presence of metal at a randomly selected pointlocation within the front metal interconnect layer that corresponds to apoint location in the back metal interconnect layer at which metal ispresent is greater than the probability that may be expected based onthe fractional metal area of the front metal interconnect layer shown inFIG. 7( c), which is the ratio of the total area of metal within thefront metal interconnect layer to the total area of the front metalinterconnect layer. Likewise, the probability to detect absence ofmetal, or presence of an insulator region, at a randomly selected pointlocation within the front metal interconnect layer that corresponds to apoint location in the back metal interconnect layer at which metal isnot present is greater than the probability that may be expected basedon the fractional area of the total of insulator material regions of thefront metal interconnect layer shown in FIG. 7( c), which is a ratio ofa total area of insulator material regions within the front metalinterconnect layer to a total area of the front metal interconnectlayer, i.e., the ratio of the total area in which metal is not presentwithin the front metal interconnect layer to the total area of the frontmetal interconnect layer.

In other words, for an arbitrarily picked point location from themodified pattern in FIG. 7( d), there is an above average probabilitythat the corresponding point location in the pattern in FIG. 7( c) wouldhave metal if the arbitrarily picked point location contains metal, andthere is an above average probability that the corresponding pointlocation in the pattern in FIG. 7( c) would have an insulator material,i.e., lacks metal, if the arbitrarily picked point location contains theinsulator material. This positive correlation is a result of “copying”patterns across the two metal interconnect layers by superposingelements of patterns from one of the two metal interconnect layers ontothe other. The average probabilities are the fractional areas of thetotal metal area or the total insulator area, which would be theexpected values of the probabilities if no correlation between thepatterns are present or no details of the pattern in question wereknown.

Preferably, the conformal mapping is a simple superposition without anyrotation of flipping of images. In other words, the pattern in the frontmetal interconnect layer and the pattern in the back metal interconnectlayer after generation of at least one modified pattern producespositive correlation upon simple superposition of the two patternswithout rotation or flipping. Thus, the randomly selected point locationwithin the front metal interconnect layer and the point location in theback metal interconnect layer are coincidental in a superposition of adesign of the front metal interconnect layer with a design of the backmetal interconnect layer.

In most cases, however, the pattern of the back metal interconnect layercontains at least one geometric feature, and the pattern of the frontmetal interconnect layer contains at least another geometric feature,wherein the at least one geometric feature and the at least anothergeometric feature are different. Thus, the two patterns after thepattern modification are not the same and the correlation of the twopatterns is not perfect. The probability to detect presence of metal orthe probability to detect absence of metal is less than 1 if the twopatterns after modification are not identical.

It is preferable that the front metal interconnect layer and the backmetal interconnect layer have identical sizes so that the conformalmapping is between the entirety of the front metal interconnect layerand the entirety of the back metal interconnect layer having the samenumber of intervening layers. It is possible, however, to practice thepresent invention with a front metal interconnect layer and a back metalinterconnect layer having different numbers of the intervening metalinterconnect layers. Further, it is also possible to practice thepresent invention on portions of a front metal interconnect layer andportions of a back metal interconnect layer that are less than theentirety of the front or back metal interconnect layer. Further, thepresent invention may be practiced on a front metal interconnect layerand a back metal interconnect layer having a different size so that alimited areas of the front and back metal interconnect layers may bematched, or only the overall fractional metal area may be matched.

As a natural consequence of pattern matching, the fractional metal areasare matched between the front and back metal interconnect layers. Thefractional metal area of the front metal interconnect layer is the ratioof the total area of the metal within the front metal interconnect layerto the total area of the front metal interconnect layer. The fractionalmetal area of the back metal interconnect layer is the ratio of thetotal area of the metal within the back metal interconnect layer to thetotal area of the back metal interconnect layer. The fractional metalarea of the front metal interconnect layer and the fractional metal areaof the back metal interconnect layer are within 30% of each other, andpreferably within 15% of each other, and most preferably within 10% ofeach other. In some cases, the two fractional metal areas may be matchedwithin 3% of each other.

Statistical analysis of specific types of patterns across the frontmetal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layer also showthe positive correlation of the patterns after modification according tothe present invention. For a randomly selected pattern containing acontiguous piece of the metal located in a region in the back metalinterconnect layer, a corresponding area in the front metal interconnectlayer is expected to have higher probability of having metal than theprobability of finding metal in a randomly selected point location inthe front metal interconnect layer. In other words, knowing that theselected location within the back metal interconnect layer has metal andthat a positive correlation exists between the patterns of the front andback metal layers, one can expect that the probability of finding metalin the corresponding point location in the front metal interconnectlayer is higher than the fractional metal area of the front metalinterconnect layer.

The above situation may be expressed by a probability statementinvolving ratios. A first ratio herein denotes the ratio of the totalarea of the metal within a corresponding region of the top metalinterconnect layer to the total area of the corresponding region. Asecond ratio herein denotes the ratio of the total area of the metalwithin the front metal interconnect layer to the total area of the frontmetal interconnect layer. The probability that the first ratio exceedsthe second ratio is greater than 50% due to the positive correlation ofthe two patterns after modification of at least one pattern.

In case the conformal one-to-one mapping of the two patterns is a simplesuperposition, the entirety of boundaries of the corresponding regionand the entirety of boundaries of the region are coincidental in asuperposition of a design of the front metal interconnect layer with adesign of the back metal interconnect layer.

In the same manner, for a randomly selected pattern containing acontiguous region in which the metal is absent in the back metalinterconnect layer, a corresponding area in the front metal interconnectlayer is expected to have higher probability of having an insulatormaterial, i.e., not having the metal, than the probability of findingthe insulator material in a randomly selected point location in thefront metal interconnect layer, which is the fractional area of theinsulator material within the front metal interconnect layer.

A third ratio herein denotes the ratio of the total area of theinsulator material within a corresponding region of the top metalinterconnect layer to the total area of the corresponding region. Afourth ratio herein denotes the ratio of the total area of the insulatormaterial within the front metal interconnect layer to the total area ofthe front metal interconnect layer, which is equal to 1 minus the secondratio. The probability that the third ratio exceeds the fourth ratio isgreater than 50% due to the positive correlation of the two patternsafter modification of at least one pattern.

In case the conformal one-to-one mapping of the two patterns is a simplesuperposition, the entirety of boundaries of the corresponding regionand the entirety of boundaries of the region are coincidental in asuperposition of a design of the front metal interconnect layer with adesign of the back metal interconnect layer.

Typically, the pattern of the back metal interconnect layer encompassesthe entirety of the back metal interconnect layer and the pattern of thefront metal interconnect layer encompasses the entirety of the frontmetal interconnect layer.

FIG. 8( a)-8(e) show a second set of exemplary images of front and backmetal interconnect layers according to the present invention. Blackareas represent areas in which metal is present in the design, and whileareas represent areas in which an insulator material is present in thedesign. FIG. 8( a) is a second prototype pattern for a front metalinterconnect layer. FIG. 8( b) is a second prototype pattern for a backmetal interconnect layer. FIG. 8( c) is a modified pattern for the frontmetal interconnect layer, and FIG. 8( d) is a modified pattern for theback metal interconnect layer. FIG. 8( e) is a pattern obtained byfurther modification of the pattern in FIG. 8( d). The conformalone-to-one mapping between the patterns in FIGS. 8( a) and 8(b) is asimple superposition of the two patterns. Also, the conformal one-to-onemapping between the patterns in FIGS. 8( c) and 8(d) is a simplesuperposition of the two patterns, and so is the conformal one-to-onemapping between the patterns in FIGS. 8( c) and 8(e).

Overall, the second prototype pattern of the back metal interconnectlayer in FIG. 8( b) is simpler than the pattern of the second prototypepattern of the front metal interconnect layer in FIG. 8( a). Thus, theoverall pattern of the top metal interconnect layer is superposed ontothe second prototype pattern in FIG. 8( b) to generate the modifiedpattern in FIG. 8( d) having similar features as FIG. 7( d) describedabove. However, examination of the second prototype pattern of the frontmetal interconnect layer in FIG. 8( a) shows that a relative large areaof the second prototype pattern for the front metal interconnect layercomprises a contiguous area of metal. Elements of the second prototypepattern of the back metal interconnect layer in FIG. 8( b) aresuperposed into the second prototype pattern of the front metalinterconnect layer in FIG. 8( a) to form the modified pattern of thefront metal interconnect layer in FIG. 8( c). Thus, the superposition ofa complex pattern from one of the pair of a front metal interconnectlayer and a back metal interconnect layer onto the other containing asimpler pattern may be bidirectional, and may be performed region byregion.

The first prototype pattern and the second prototype pattern arecompared for complexity between regions correlated by the conformalone-to-one mapping. Different criteria may be employed in determiningthe relative level of complexity of patterns as provided in the secondprototype patterns for the front and back metal interconnect layers.

In one method, the entirety of the prototype pattern of the front metalinterconnect layer may be compared with the entirety of the prototypepattern of the back metal interconnect layer. In another method, theprototype pattern of the front metal interconnect layer may besubdivided into first regions and the prototype pattern of the backmetal interconnect layer may be subdivided into second regions. The samemethod of subdivision is employed in formation of the first regions andthe second regions so each of the first regions is correlated to one ofthe second prototype pattern by the conformal one-to-one mapping, e.g.,by superposition of the selected first region onto the selected secondregion. The correlated pair of the selected first region and theselected second region is compared for the level of complexity.

Further, identification of the pattern of the higher complexity mayemploy one or more of many methods available for pattern comparison. Theidentification method may employ comparison of total lengths ofboundaries between metal regions and insulator regions within each ofthe regions correlated by the conformal one-to-one mapping.

Alternately or in parallel, the identification of the pattern of thehigher complexity may employ comparison of an average size of shapes ofmetal pieces, an average size of shapes of insulator regions, a totalnumber of metal pieces, or a total number of insulator regions withineach of the regions correlated by the conformal one-to-one mapping.

Once the pattern of relatively higher complexity is identified withinthe pair of correlated regions, which may be the entirety of the frontand back metal interconnect layers or correlated subsets thereof, thepattern of higher complexity in one of the regions is superposed ontothe other region of the correlated pair to generate a modified pattern.

FIGS. 8( c) and 8(d) show an example of the subdivision of prototypepatterns into multiple regions for identification of relatively complexpatterns. In the left half LH and the second quarter from the top of theright half RH2Q, the second prototype pattern of the front metalinterconnect layer in FIG. 8( a) is more complex than the secondprototype pattern of the back metal interconnect layer in FIG. 8( b).Consequently, the second prototype pattern of the front metalinterconnect layer in FIG. 8( a) is superposed to the modified patternof the back metal interconnect layer as shown in FIG. 8( d). Inaddition, in the upper one quarter of the right half RH1Q and the lowerhalf of the right half MLR, the second prototype pattern of the backmetal interconnect layer is more complex than the second prototypepattern of the front metal interconnect layer. Consequently, the secondprototype pattern of the back metal interconnect layer in FIG. 8( b) issuperposed to the modified pattern of the front metal interconnect layeras shown in FIG. 8( c). Thus, elements of prototype patterns in a pairof front and back metal interconnect layers may be superposed onto theopposite layer from the front metal interconnect layer to the back metalinterconnect layer and vice versa.

Referring to FIG. 8( e), a superposed pattern within the modifiedpattern may be scaled. Examining the left half of the bottom metalinterconnect layer in FIGS. 8( b) and 8(d), a solid block of metalwithin the second prototype pattern of the bottom metal interconnectlayer in FIG. 8( b) is modified into a patterned area in FIG. 8( d). Thepatterned area in FIG. 8( d) may further be modified into a scaledpattern shown in FIG. 8( e). The scaled pattern may be stretched orcompressed in one or two directions. The scaled pattern hassubstantially the same metal area to insulator area ratio as the patternprior to scaling, i.e., the scaling preserves the fractional metal area.

Such a superposition of pattern may be done on a solid block ofinsulator as well. FIG. 9( a)-9(d) show a third set of exemplary imagesof front and back metal interconnect layers according to the presentinvention. Black areas represent areas in which metal is present in thedesign, and while areas represent areas in which an insulator materialis present in the design as in the prior images. FIG. 9( a) is a thirdprototype pattern for a front metal interconnect layer. FIG. 9( b) is athird prototype pattern for a back metal interconnect layer. FIG. 9( c)is a modified pattern for the front metal interconnect layer, and FIG.9( d) is a modified pattern for the back metal interconnect layer.

The third prototype pattern of the front metal interconnect layer inFIG. 9( a) contains a solid block of the insulator. The portion of thethird prototype pattern within the corresponding region of the bottommetal interconnect layer is superposed on the third prototype pattern ofthe front metal interconnect layer in FIG. 9( a) to generate themodified pattern for the front metal interconnect layer in FIG. 9( c).The third prototype pattern of the back metal interconnect layer in FIG.9( b) is modified as well by the pattern of the third prototype patternof the front metal interconnect layer in FIG. 9( a) to generate themodified pattern of the back metal interconnect layer in FIG. 9( d).

Referring to FIGS. 10( a) and 10(b), two modified patterns for a bottommetal interconnect layer are provided. Comparison of a first modifiedpattern in FIG. 10( a) and a second modified pattern in FIG. 10( b) isemployed to elaborate on scaling of complex patterns that are superposedonto one of the modified patterns as in FIG. 8( e). The scaling of thecomplex patterns may be along one direction or along two orthogonaldirections. Since the fractional metal area of the scaled patternremains substantially constant except for small variations due to thevariations of the pattern at the pattern boundary, probability oflocating the metal or the probability of locating an insulator materialremains substantially constant. In other words, once the fractionalmetal area of the complex pattern is known, it is not necessary to knowthe fractional metal area of the entirety of the modified pattern sincethe probability of locating the metal or the insulator material within ascaled pattern depends on the fractional metal area within the complexpattern.

To illustrate this point, an geometrical shape 95, which may be apolygon or a curvilinear two dimensional shape, that may beisotropically and arbitrarily scaled in size by varying a dimension,which may be one of a diameter, a diagonal dimension, etc., are providedwithin corresponding regions of the first modified pattern in FIG. 10(a) and the second modified pattern in FIG. 10( b). As the value of thedimension of the geometrical shape 95 changes, there exists at least onevalue, and typically a range of values, for the dimension at which apositive correlation between the fractional metal areas of a pair of therandomly selected regions that have the geometrical shape and the valuefor the dimension within the front and back metal interconnect layersprovided that each of the pair of the randomly selected regions aremapped into each other by the conformal one-to-one mapping describedabove. In other words, the pair of randomly selected regions comprises afirst region located in the front metal interconnect layer and a secondregion located in the back metal interconnect layer, and the firstregion and the second region are projected into each other by theconformal one-to-one mapping, and the first region and the second regionhave the geometrical shape and the value for the dimension. In case theconformal one-to-one mapping is a simple superposition of modifiedpatterns of the front and back metal interconnect layers, the positivecorrelation between the fractional metal areas of the pair of therandomly selected regions that have the geometrical shape and the valuefor the dimension within the front and back metal interconnect layersprovided that the randomly selected regions are located in the same areawithin each of the modified pattern for the front and back metalinterconnect layers. In this case, the entirety of boundaries of thefirst region and an entirety of boundaries of the second region arecoincidental in a superposition of the design of the front metalinterconnect layer with the design of the back metal interconnect layer.

Typically, the modified patterns of the front and back metalinterconnect layers are not identical. In this case, the pattern of theback metal interconnect layer contains at least one geometric feature,and the pattern of the front metal interconnect layer contains at leastanother geometric feature. The at least one geometric feature and the atleast another geometric feature are different. The correlationcoefficient for the positive correlation between the fractional areas isless than 1 due to the differences in the modified patterns.

Other pattern manipulation operations may be performed to generate themodified patterns. For example, small pitch structures such as a set ofnested metal lines may be merged such that their orientation andfractional metal area are preserved, while dimensions of features areincreased. The net effect is similar to the modification of the patternin FIG. 8( d) to the pattern in FIG. 8( e).

FIGS. 11( a)-11(d) show a “real-life” application of the inventivepattern-matching method to a pair of front metal interconnect layers anda back metal interconnect layer. FIG. 11( a) shows a prototype patternfor the front metal interconnect layer as designed with circuitperformance considerations but without considerations for patternmatching or thermal coefficient matching. Likewise, FIG. 11( b) shows aprototype pattern for the back metal interconnect layer as designed withcircuit performance considerations only. The differences in thedimensions of the features, i.e., the fine pitched structures in FIG.11( a) versus the large patterns in FIG. 11( b), are due to differencesin the density of circuit wiring between the two metal interconnectlayers. Further, there is an imbalance of fractional metal area betweenthe two metal interconnect layers. The fractional metal area ofprototype pattern of the top metal interconnect layer, or the percentageof the total metal area relative to the total area of the top metalinterconnect layer, is about 48% since a large fraction of the top metalinterconnect layer is used for insulator areas. The fractional metalarea of the prototype pattern of the bottom metal interconnect layer isabout 86% since most of the available areas comprise part of a largecontiguous region serving as a power supply plate. The large differencesin the fractional metal areas between the prototype patterns of the topmetal interconnect layer and the bottom metal interconnect layer wouldcause a large difference between thermal expansion coefficients in frontcircuit build-up layers 40 (See FIG. 6) and the back circuit build-uplayers (See FIG. 6) if physical structures were built according to theprototype designs, which is the case in the prior art. Such largedifferences in the fractional metal areas oftentimes results in asignificant warp of the packaging substrate.

According to the present invention, the patterns in FIGS. 11( c) and11(d) are generated employing the methods of the present invention fromthe prototype patterns of FIGS. 11( a) and 11(b), respectively. Thus,FIG. 11( c) is a modified pattern of the front metal interconnect layerand FIG. 11( d) is a modified pattern of the back metal interconnectlayer. The average feature sizes of the two modified patterns aresimilar between FIGS. 11( c) and 11(d). Further, the fractional metalareas of the two modified patterns are matched. Specifically, thefractional metal area of the modified pattern of the top metalinterconnect layer as shown in FIG. 11( c) is about 71%. The fractionalmetal area of the modified pattern of the bottom metal interconnectlayer as shown in FIG. 11( d) is about 78%. The fractional metal areasare matched within 8% in this case. Thus, the mismatch of about 38% inthe fractional metal areas in the prototype patterns of FIGS. 11( a) and11(b) is reduced to less than 8% by matching the fractional metal areasin the modified patterns for the front and back metal interconnectlayers of FIGS. 11( c) and 11(d). The patterns are matched withoutcompromising the intended electrical functionality of each metalinterconnect layer.

A pair of physical structures for the front metal interconnect layer andthe back metal interconnect structures are manufactured employing thematched patterns for the front and back metal interconnect structuressuch as the patterns in FIGS. 11( c) and 11(d). The thermal expansioncoefficients are matched globally between the front metal interconnectlayer and the bottom interconnect layer. Further, the thermal expansioncoefficients are matched region by region within corresponding subsetsof areas smaller than the total area of the front or back metalinterconnect layers. Thus, the present invention provides not only aglobal matching of average thermal expansion coefficients between thefront metal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layer,but also region by region matching in which the local thermal expansioncoefficient of a region of the front metal interconnect layer is matchedto the local thermal expansion coefficient of a corresponding region ofthe back metal interconnect layer that underlies the region of the frontmetal interconnect layer.

The pattern matching may be performed for each pair of the front metalinterconnect layer and the back interconnect layer having the samenumber of intervening layers between the core 50 (See FIG. 6) and thefront or back metal interconnect layer as described above. By matchingevery pair of the front metal interconnect layer and the backinterconnect layer, the three-dimensional distribution of coefficientsof thermal expansion within the front circuit build-up layers 40 (SeeFIG. 6) and within the back circuit build-up layers 60 (See FIG. 6) maybe mirror images of each other. In other words, the set of front circuitbuild-up layers 40 and the set of back circuit build-up layers 60 have asymmetric three-dimensional distribution of coefficient of thermalexpansion. The mirror symmetry of the three-dimensional distribution ofthe coefficients of thermal expansion suppresses warp of the packagingsubstrates that would otherwise be triggered by thermal cycling.Enhanced resistance to warp reduces warp in packaging substrates,thereby improving yield of the packaging substrate and enablingmanufacture of larger packaging substrates.

Referring to FIG. 12, a method of generating a matched pair of a firstpattern for a front metal interconnect layer and a second pattern for aback metal interconnect layer for a packaging substrate is provided.

Referring to a first step 121 of the flow chart, a prototype pattern fora front metal interconnect layer and another prototype pattern for theback metal interconnect layer is provided. Preferably, the pair of thefront metal interconnect layer and the back metal interconnect layerhave the same number of intervening metal interconnect layers betweenthe core 50 and each of the pair of the front metal interconnect layerand the back metal interconnect layer.

Referring to a second step 122 of the flow chart, a conformal one-to-onemapping is established between the two prototype patterns. The conformalone-to-one mapping may be a superposition of one of the two prototypepatterns with the other of the two prototype patterns.

Each of the two prototype patterns may be subdivided into first regionsin one of the two prototype patterns or second regions in the other ofthe two prototype patterns. In this case, each of the first regions iscorrelated to one of the second regions by the conformal one-to-onemapping.

Referring to a third step 123 of the flow chart, regions correlated bythe conformal one-to-one mapping between the two prototype patterns arecompared for degree of complexity. In case the two prototype patternsare decomposed into the first regions and the second regions, each ofthe correlated pairs containing one of the first regions and one of thesecond regions may be compared for the complexity.

Referring to a fourth step 124 of the flow chart, a pattern of highercomplexity is identified in one of the correlated regions. One or aplurality of methods may be employed for identification of the patternof the higher complexity. The identification of the pattern of thehigher complexity may employ comparison of total lengths of boundariesbetween metal regions and insulator regions within each of the regionscorrelated by the conformal one-to-one mapping. Alternatively orconcurrently, the identification of the pattern of the higher complexitymay employ comparison of average size of shapes of metal pieces, anaverage size of shapes of insulator regions, total number of metalpieces, or total number of insulator regions within each of the regionscorrelated by the conformal one-to-one mapping.

Referring to a fifth step 125 of the flow chart, the pattern of thehigher complexity in a region in one of the two prototype patterns issuperposed to the a corresponding regions to generate a modified patternin the other of the two prototype patterns.

The process of the first step 121 through the fifth step 125 may beperformed to modify the patterns in both prototype patterns, andconsequently, to generate a pair of modified patterns. Patterns ofelectrical connections are compared between pairs of locations at whichvias for inter-level connection are present in each of the modifiedpatterns and one of the first and prototype patterns out of which themodified pattern is generated. The patterns of electrical connectionsmay be modified by introducing additional metal areas to the modifiedpattern.

For example, a solid block of metal or a solid block of insulator withinthe modified regions may become a patterned area having the same patternas the one of the regions out of which the superposed pattern of thehigher complexity is copied.

Also, a solid block of metal or a solid block of insulator within themodified regions may become a patterned area having a scaled pattern ofthe pattern of the higher complexity. The scaled pattern may havesubstantially the same metal area to insulator area ratio as the patternof the higher complexity.

While the invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments,it is evident in view of the foregoing description that numerousalternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is intended to encompassall such alternatives, modifications and variations which fall withinthe scope and spirit of the invention and the following claims.

1. A method of generating a matched pair of a first pattern for a frontmetal interconnect layer and a second pattern for a back metalinterconnect layer for a packaging substrate, said method comprising:providing a first prototype pattern for said front metal interconnectlayer and a second prototype pattern for said back metal interconnectlayer; establishing a conformal one-to-one mapping between said firstprototype pattern and said second prototype pattern; comparing saidfirst prototype pattern and said second prototype pattern for complexitybetween regions correlated by said conformal one-to-one mapping; andidentifying a pattern of higher complexity in one of said regions andsuperposing said pattern of said higher complexity to the other of saidregions to generate a modified pattern.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein said identifying of said pattern of said higher complexityemploys comparison of total lengths of boundaries between metal regionsand insulator regions within each of said regions correlated by saidconformal one-to-one mapping.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein saididentifying of said pattern of said higher complexity employs comparisonof average size of shapes of metal pieces, an average size of shapes ofinsulator regions, total number of metal pieces, or total number ofinsulator regions within each of said regions correlated by saidconformal one-to-one mapping.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein saidconformal one-to-one mapping is a superposition of said first prototypepattern with said second prototype pattern.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: subdividing said first prototype pattern into firstregions and said second prototype pattern into second regions, whereineach of said first regions is correlated to one of said second regionsby said conformal one-to-one mapping; and comparing a correlated pair ofone of said first regions and one of said second regions for saidcomplexity.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparingpatterns of electrical connections between pairs of locations at whichvias for inter-level connection are present in each of said modifiedpattern and one of said first and prototype patterns out of which saidmodified pattern is generated; and matching said patterns of electricalconnections by introducing additional metal areas to said modifiedpattern.
 7. The method claim 1, wherein a solid block of metal or asolid block of insulator within said other of said regions becomes apatterned area having the same pattern as said one of said regions. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein a solid block of metal or a solid blockof insulator within said other of said regions becomes a patterned areahaving a scaled pattern of said pattern of said higher complexity,wherein said scaled pattern has substantially the same metal area toinsulator area ratio as said pattern of said higher complexity.
 9. Amethod of manufacturing a packaging substrate comprising: forming a corecomprising a ceramic material or an organic material; forming a frontmetal interconnect layer containing patterned pieces of metal and aninsulator material and located on and above a top surface of said core;and forming a back metal interconnect layer containing patterned piecesof said metal and said insulator material and located on and below abottom surface of said core, wherein a conformal one-to-one mappingexists between an entire surface of said front metal interconnect layerand an entire surface of said back metal interconnect layer, and whereina positive correlation exists between a pattern of said back metalinterconnect layer and a pattern of said front metal interconnect layerso that a probability to detect presence of metal at a randomly selectedpoint location within said front metal interconnect layer thatcorresponds to a point location in said back metal interconnect layer atwhich metal is present is greater than a ratio of a total area of metalwithin said front metal interconnect layer to a total area of said frontmetal interconnect layer.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:forming at least one intervening front metal interconnect layer betweensaid core and said front metal interconnect layer; and forming at leastone intervening back metal interconnect layer between said core and saidback metal interconnect layer, wherein the number of said interveningfront metal interconnect layers and the number of said intervening backmetal interconnect layers are the same.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein said at least one intervening front metal interconnect layer,said front metal interconnect layer, said at least one intervening backmetal interconnect layer, and said back metal interconnect layer areformed layer by layer.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein said corecomprises an organic material and said insulator material comprisesorganic or resin material.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein aprobability to detect absence of metal at a randomly selected pointlocation within said front metal interconnect layer that corresponds toa point location in said back metal interconnect layer at which metal isnot present is greater than a ratio of a total area in which metal isnot present within said front metal interconnect layer to a total areaof said front metal interconnect layer.